As always, it’s great fun exhibiting at San Diego Comic-Con and seeing old friends and new friends. It’s also a great honor to be working with game designers Mike Bawden and Tim Bawden of Silent Gunfight, who are premiering the prototype to IRON WARS, a WASTED LANDS game at our Booth #4500, alongside Mike Kennedy and Elizabeth Kennedy of SequentialInk.com, who are publishing my RAIL: BROKEN THINGS – A Tale of the Wasted Lands graphic novel online for FREE here, so check it out! Here are some images of our new IRON WARS game for those of you who cannot be here to see it in person. It’s a strategy board game and a trading card – best described as Risk-meets-Magic The Gathering, but not as fantasy-oriented. Let me know what you all think. I’m interested in your feedback and I thank you in advance for checking it out! And if you have time, please “Like” my Facebook fan page for THE WASTED LANDS. That link is https://www.facebook.com/davedormanwastedlands

As always, I appreciate your interest in my creator-owned world, THE WASTED LANDS. If you’re at #SDCC this year, please stop by. If not, follow me on Twitter @DaveDorman or on my Facebook page for continual postings.

LOS ANGELES, CA—March 1, 2013— Dave Dorman’s “Dorothy Daydreams” original painting will be included in the upcoming Creature Features Visions of Oz gallery art show being held at the Heritage Square Museum in Los Angeles, California from March 3 – 31. Dorman’s painting, rendered traditionally in oil and acrylic mediums, is a visual homage to the L. Frank Baum literary classic Oz books.

Said Dorman, “It was an honor to be invited to participate in this tribute. For Dorothy Daydreams, I returned to the spirit of L. Frank Baum’s young protagonist, capturing some of her desire to escape the harsh and desolate reality of her Kansas dustbowl farm for the fantasy of a much more colorful, imaginary world.” Dorman will be showing the art progressives from pencil illustration to final painting this weekend on this blog.

Creature Features curated this multimedia exhibit, showcasing more than 100 works from a diverse group of artists. The collection includes illustrations, paintings, sculptures and full-sized recreations of favorite Oz characters. Also included in the exhibit will be historical memorabilia such as rare editions of the original L. Frank Baum books, props, concepts and artwork from various Oz-themed film & TV projects and many more surprises.

Eisner, Inkpot and Bram Stoker Award-winning illustrator, writer and creator Dave Dorman was voted the #1 Star Wars Artist of All Time by fans of the property worldwide, and his art book Star Wars: The Art of Dave Dormanwas an international bestseller. His landmark, critically acclaimed graphic novel, Aliens: Tribes, won him an Eisner and Bram Stoker Award as well as changing the way the publishing ad entertainment industries viewed the medium. Dorman’s own critically acclaimed Intellectual Property, The Wasted Lands—the Sergio Leone-meets-motorcycle western epic tale of good vs. evil in a dystopian society recovering from “the Iron Wars”–continued to raise the bar in the graphic novel publishing arena and set a new standard. Another Dorman I.P., Dead Heat, is the Bram Stoker Award-winning horror anthology of his tales of the protagonist motorcycle zombie known as “Hitch.” Dorman’s autobiography, Rolling Thunder: The Art of Dave Dorman (IDW Publishing/Desperado Publishing) encompasses an estimated one-third of his illustrious art career, which includes licensed works of such classic properties as G.I. Joe, Indiana Jones, Predator, Robotech, Batman, Captain America, Spiderman, Judge Dredd, Transformers, Green Lantern, Green Hornet, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Magic: The Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons, World of Warcraft and many more. Corporate clients include 20th Century Fox, Rhythm & Hues, Hasbro, Wizards of the Coast, Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Image, IDW, Upper Deck, Topps, FASA Corp., and many more.

Dorman is a sought-after instructor who has taught at American Academy of Art, Savannah College of Art & Design, Reverie (Massive Black/ConceptArt.org), Columbia College and The Gnomon School. His video art tutorials are available at The Gnomon Workshop.

I’m finishing up the last painting for my show, opening tonight at Rotofugi. It is FREE to come to the gallery and see my art and join me at tonight’s opening. For those of you with GPS, they’re located at 2780 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, IL 60614. For those who can only make it into town for C2E2, please join me next Friday, April 13th for a special C2E2 Weekend showing at 7 p.m. – 10 p.m.

Here’s one of a few new pieces of art I’m exhibiting tonight at the show – this piece I’ve called AHAB’s WIFE and it’s oil and acrylic on canvas, 24″ x 36″. Let me know what you think of it.

I hope you can join us tonight…or next Friday night during C2E2. I am dedicating this show to my wife, Denise Dorman, whose support, promotion and enthusiasm for my work is unyielding. As always, I thank all of you for your support and interest in my art.

I read a post other day on the problem with the comics industry, which triggered me to write this blog today. I wanted to share with you what I think has retarded the growth of today’s American comic book publishing industry. Those of you who have read my autobiography Rolling Thunder: The Art of Dave Dorman know my history with comics. For those who haven’t, here’s the truncated version:

I started reading comics back in the ’60s as a kid growing up in Hawaii on Hickam Air Force Base. My older brother Jeff got me hooked on them. We lived in Foster Village, and he and I would trek to the local drug store to pick up Marveland DC self-contained stories. I loved them. Jack Kirby, Jim Steranko…those were the halcyon days. Comics, a truly American art form, was already limiting itself by offering fans mostly super hero fantasies.

You will be surprised to learn that although I’ve painted many a cover, I stopped reading American super hero comics in the late ’80s. Why? Because that was when the publishers started hyper-serializing their storytelling. Notice the synopsis in the front of any Marvel comic today and you’ll see what I mean. When I have to read 10 years’ worth of story bible to understand what’s happening in this issue, you’ve lost me as a fan.

American comic book publishers gambled on serialized story addicts. They didn’t bank on alienating older readers and the next generation(s) of readers, but that’s what happened. And before you suggest that the super hero movies create a bump in comic book sales and therefore must be enticing a new generation of fans, do your research. Study after study has proven this untrue.

Here’s what I’m spending my entertainment fund on these days (and every Wednesday):

These foreign books, while often a series, tend to be more self-contained and easily read individually without requiring the new reader to have info on previous story lines or character development. International comics are often more accessible to the general market than our American comics. We need to change what we’re doing here. I’m pleased to see indie publishers like Archaia publishing foreign books here to deliver the fans something eclectic and interesting.

I ‘ve recently hired Young Social Media from Hollywood, California to handle my online reputation management, social media and branding. I am embedding that press release below, just to make it official here on my blog. My wife will still be handling my media relations work supplemental to the work Jacob is doing for us. For the record, my wife wrote this release, so please don’t think that I’m this full of myself. Okay, here’s the release:

Comic Book Legend Dave Dorman Names Hollywood’s

Jacob Young Social Media His Agency of Record

Chicago, IL and Hollywood, CA – September 26, 2010 – Dave Dorman, the Eisner Award-winning artist voted the #1 Star Wars Artist of All Time by the fans and world renowned for his dynamic cover art for Indiana Jones, Batman, G.I. Joe and every licensed character in pop culture, is pleased to name Hollywood, California-based Jacob Young Social Media as his social media and branding agency of record.

“Young Social Media has a proven track record of online reputation management and SEO strategy that aligns with my business needs,” Dorman explained. “My team is very excited to apply the energy, enthusiasm and fresh ideas from Jacob to our business success.” Said Jacob K. Young, “Dave Dorman is more than an award-winning artist, more than one of the founding fathers of modern pop culture. He is the very definition of an American Icon. You’d be a fool to say no if asked to work with him. If you love what you’ve seen him do so far, then get ready to fall in love all over again.”

Dorman’s 2010 string of successes have ranged from being named a VIP guest at San Diego Comic-Con and winning the prestigious Inkpot Award to launching his critically acclaimed new book, ROLLING THUNDER: THE ART OF DAVE DORMAN (IDW Publishing/Desperado Publishing), now available in book retailers nationwide. During the August 2010 Star Wars Celebration 5, Dark Horse Comics named Dorman the cover artist for the final chapter in their Star Wars “Crimson Empire” series, which was news long awaited by the fans. Dorman is also being heavily courted by numerous publishers and videogame developers over his own intellectual property, a motorcycle western action adventure called The Wasted Lands.

Dorman is equally excited about his new charitable art project “52,” which he discussed on a recent episode of The Dennis Miller Radio Show. Dorman is painting 52 individual military pieces of art honoring the men and women in uniform who defend our country. These paintings will be published in a new book with proceeds going to USACares.org. Said Dorman, “I grew up in a military family, so it is my honor and privilege to give something back to our military families.”

I’d like to share with my Star Wars art fans that I am being allowed to take pre-orders before SWC5, but you must be present to pick up the prints, and you must pay for them AT the show. Please pick up your prints by noon on Friday, August 13th or they will be put back into retail rotation.

About the New SWC5 Print: The print is the same style and format as C4 and CE and will be signed and numbered. There will be 250 copies only. The cost will be $100. The title of the print is “A Disturbance in the Force on the Battlefield of Hoth.” They have a preliminary already up on the StarWars.com site.

Please email my wife Denise with your pre-order requests and she will create a spread sheet to keep very good track of your orders. Include in your email your cell phone #, mailing address. If you would like to request a certain print number to match previous editions, please make Denise aware of this as well and we will try our best to match that number in this edition.

Please note that Denise must send you a confirmation email to ensure that the transaction is confirmed. I would hate for anyone’s email to get caught in her spam filter and lose the opportunity. Be sure to get that email confirmation. If you need to call Denise & confirm, her phone # is 630.845.4694.

One of the ideas that really stayed with me after San Diego Comic-Con was that those of you who collect my art do a really beautiful job of displaying my art in your own homes…and sometimes in ink on your bodies. Some non-tattoo displays, like my friend Greg’s in Arizona and Ryan’s in North Carolina, are really elaborate. So, if you all don’t mind, I would really enjoy seeing and displaying on my blog, with your permission, the unique ways you’re displaying my artwork in your own environs or in tattoo form. Sometimes it gives me ideas for how to matte and display my own. If you can take a jpeg photo and email it to my wife, Denise@writebrainmedia.com, she will start posting these on my blog for all of us to see, appreciate and compare notes. Who knows? Maybe a fan calendar can come of it? That could be a lot of fun.

Some of what happened at SDCC I’m under NDA not to discuss, but suffice it to say, plenty of great business opportunities came my way, and I’m very excited for the next year to unfold.

Here are some San Diego Comic-Con highlights that I can discuss:

The new book, ROLLING THUNDER: The Art of Dave Dorman launched at the show. I thank all of you who made the 1/2-mile trek from my booth to the IDW booth and back to buy a copy & then come back for my signature.

I did a sketch on camera for The Gnomon Workshop’s “SKETCH THEATER,” and that will post online in the next couple of weeks. When it goes live, I’ll post a link here so you can all see it.

My friend, The Collector, got nearly all of the autographs he wanted from SDCC, so I am pleased for him.

For those of you who sat in on my panel discussions, I thank you. If any of you got photography from either of my panels, please send to Denise to post on my blog with your permission and you will get a photo credit (if you like).

Again, I thank you all for reading and I appreciate all of you for taking an interest in my work. I’m hard at work painting the new SWC5 piece right now, so that will be my focus for the next several days.